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Feb 29, 2008

I found Deborah Lindquist, an environmentally conscious clothing designer through Doris Goes Shopping, who showed this fabulous wedding dress...It's made of organic linen and vintage lace and is $3,000. It's not something that I'd wear for my wedding, but I think the design is gorgeous.

This babydoll dress made from hemp/silk organza is so cute. I think it would be perfect for a fun, casual beach wedding And check out the super cute cashmere shrug to go with it! I would so wear this whole outfit out to dinner with my man."Deborah creates exquisite apparel out of a mix of "reincarnated" and new Earth-friendly fabrics." She's got a lot of other options on her website so check it out if you are having a "green" wedding or just looking for a fun and unique wedding dress!

First, you will see a new search feature on the side bar.It’s the LijitSearch, which is a search engine for not only what’s on my blog, but also what's in my “network”, which is everyone on my blog roll.So if you wanted to search for “invitations” it would give you results from all of us lovely wedding bloggers!Neat huh?!

Next thing I’ve added is from Sk*rt.This is just a site where you can link to the cool stuff that you find out on the web and want to share it with others.It’s fun looking through and seeing what other’s share.

I actually found Lijit through a link from someone that shared it on Sk*rt!

Blogger This Mama Cooks is holding a contest right now for anyone that adds Lijit to their blog.I probably would’ve added it anyway but it’s fun that she is holding a contest!Go check them all out!

Feb 27, 2008

I am finally ready to show off our Save the Date's! We worked hard on these babies. I think 3 straight nights of scoring, cutting, folding, glueing, etc... Not counting the time that it took J to do the graphic design.

A few of the invites lined up...

The color above is a more accurate coloring, the paper is a gorgeous deep plum cardstock from Paper Zone. The symbols are our "logo" it's a T and J if you can't tell :) The ribbon also matches perfectly it's a plum with a light pink embroidered border. I cut and glued each one of those tabs!

The inside... The triangle to hold the card, yup, cut and glued each one of those too! It was hard to get them to stay in perfectly.

The front of the card. We used a picture from our engagement session.

The back of the card with the details. You can kind of see our logo embossed in the lower left corner. I got our embosser from Wilshire Graphic Press. Highly recommended! It looks funny in this small picture, but those are our doggies at our feet. We're holding their leashes.

You see the rectangles at the top? Those are magnets! Here they are taken off the card. I wanted to incorporate magnets but not have one of those big magnets with our faces on them. I am going to have to brag and say that I thought of this all by myself (to incorporate it into the design). Genius, I know ;)

Here's a close up of how the magnet looks like on the card. Since we put the design on both sides, the magnets just stuck to each other.

The magnets are DIY (actually all of this was DIY)... We bought a huge roll of thin magnet sheet that had a sticky side. J printed the design on the computer on cardstock and then we would place the design on the sticky side of the magnet sheet and hand cut each one out with an xacto knife. If you are going to do this, use an industrial and very sharp xacto. We had a "craft" xacto knife that we started out using, but the magnets are really hard to cut through. We ended up getting a really good one from the tool section at Home Depot! It was pricier than regular xacto's but it made the cutting so much easier. The magnets are meant to be a small enough reminder of our date and can be used alone or to hold the card up.

I don't have pictures of our envelopes, but we incorporated the back design onto the envelopes and then embossed with our logo.

So that's it! It was a labor of love but so worth it. I am in love with the finished product. The pictures don't really show how great they turned out, I wish I could show all of you what they look like in person!

Can I see your Save the Date's? Send me a picture or link if you have it! I love seeing everyone's Save the Date's because you can get so creative with them.

Everyone blogs about what they wear, but what about what their hair and makeup? I keep on seeing blogs post about the gowns that the stars wore on the red carpet but I am in love with the makeup that was done!

One of my favorite beauty blogs, Blogdorf Goodman, has great posts on the makeup of the night and the artists that created them.

I'm trying to get ideas of how to do my makeup as I will probably be doing it myself. I won't have time to find a makeup artist in Jamaica, much less have time for a trial so I figure I'd be better off doing it myself.

My favorites of the night...

Anne Hathaway - I usually don't like hair pulled back like this for a fancy event, but it really goes with the dress and the makeup.

Best Actress Marion Cotillard - I already love her style as you can see from my post below and this is no exception. The curls on one side is something that most people don't think of and I think it would be hard to pull off but she looks gorgeous! I love that the corners of her eyes are highlighted in a light color and then gradually moves to dark. It's very subtle which is why it works so well.

Feb 25, 2008

Are you a member of Gilt Groupe? If so, did you see the gorgeousness that was on sale today? Beautiful Badgley Mischka dresses for cheap, cheap, cheap! I wanted to buy them all! I don't even have a place to wear them but still...

If you don't know, Gilt Groupe is a invitation only online sample sale of high end designers. The prices are fabulous and usually have great selection of sizes, but you have to get on the site as soon as the sample sale starts as they do sell out pretty quickly.

Here are a few that I instantly fell in love with. I want to be a guest at a formal winter wedding just to wear these dresses.

I am such a lover of pleating. I'm not sure why, but on evening dresses, I think it looks so elegant and modern at the same time. This retailed for $795. Gilt had it on sale for $248!

This hot little number has a gorgeous lace overlay and a silk gathered band at the waist. Oh, so pretty! Retail $595, Gilt $188.

Rose print chiffon. Love! The rose petal detail on the bust. Love! Retail $995, Gilt $308. I would love to wear this for my rehearsal dinner. Too bad they sold out of my size already. :(

If you want to be a member of Gilt, send me your e-mail address and I can mail you an invite! Tommorrow's sample sale is Judith Ripka so I'm hoping to score some wedding jewelry. On Thursday, it's Notte by Marchesa which is a brand that I ADORE. I can't wait to see the dresses that they will have on sale.

Feb 22, 2008

Oh, how I love Google Reader! I've been "away" from the computer most of this week and have not had a chance to catch up on my favorite sites. I love that I can just check my google reader and see all of it in one area!

I have subscribed to quite a few more wedding blogs so thought I would update my links section on the side.

I am such a crazy Google Reader reader. I have subscribed to more blogs than I want to admit too! Mine is broken down to 5 sections:

1) Beauty - there are an abundance of Beauty related blogs that I just ADORE. I am obsessed with make-up, skin care, etc, and love that so many other women out there share this obsession. My favorite site is All Lacquered Up. It is all about nail polish! I love that she does reviews and shows pictures of her nails with the colors. I recently purchased 5 O.P.I colors from their new India collection just based on her reviews and her pictures. So fab!

2) Celebrity Gossip - how else will I know what's going on in the world? ;) Perez Hilton does a fabulous job of keeping me up to date on the most important details of this fun, fabulous world.

3) Fashion - um I love fashion. I love clothes, shoes, handbags, accessories, style, I mean everything about fashion. There are so many fashion blogs out there, I *think* it beats the number of wedding blogs! My fav? The Latest Luxe.

4) HR/Business - I recently discovered the abundance of HR and business related blogs and was absolutely floored. I like to keep up on my industry and in a non-boring work kind of way. I love reading about other people's experiences and the different takes on certain HR issues that every company has. Being in HR and being in Management is also a whole other animal and I love to hear about those perspectives too. One of my favorites is Ask a Manager.

5) Wedding - Last, but certainly not least! And we all know how many wedding blogs are out there and how we can be so addicted to them. I'm not going to name my favorite out of this category, because, they are all so great!

Please check out the links on the side for those fabulous blogs! If you know of a site that I don't have on there, please let me know, I love reading them all!!

Feb 15, 2008

I travel a lot for work and am usually traveling to Europe so I have progressively bought bigger and bigger bags so I can carry on more and more. I have a lovely Tumi luggage set - matching pink carry on and rolling luggage. I highly reccommend Tumi if you are a business traveler or just travel a lot. It's expensive but so worth it. On the longer Europe trips where I do have to check my bags, I try and bring the biggest handbag that I have so I can bring a lot in my carry-on. I’m very paranoid about the airlines losing my luggage so I always carry on my laptop, make-up/skincare bag (which is huge), jewelry and several other items. I have accumulated many big handbags as a result. I think everytime I buy a handbag, it gets bigger and bigger. I figure this will come in handy for the wedding as I'm sure I will need to bring a lot of stuff that I will be too afraid to check in.I recently bought a handbag that fits literally everything that I have ever wanted to carry in my bag. And it’s not too ridiculously big that I can use it everyday. I used to have to choose between which cosmetics bags to fit in my purse and only carry one pair of sunglasses. I have to note that I do carry a lot in my bag. More than most woman I think.

Anyway, I am sort of a designer handbag whore. I have more Louis Vuitton's, Marc Jacobs, Gucci, etc. bags than I can count. I usually don't buy non high end designer handbags unless it is a really great style. I was perusing this adorable little shoe boutique in Fremont, Lamb's Ear and came across this awesomely big but really well designed bag that is a "non-designer" label.

It's the Anna Corinna Jet Setter Jr. bag! What an appropriate name for it huh? The leather is a glazed leather and is really soft. The hardware is really nice and not too heavy. If you own a Marc Jacobs bag you know what I mean about heavy hardware. There are 2 inside pockets and the top buttons can snap together or apart to create an even bigger, roomier bag! Ever since I started carrying this bag, I have had so many people (even men!) compliment me on this bag. Everyone wants to know where I got it, who designed it etc... Out of all the nice bags I've owned, I have never recieved so many compliments on one bag in the one month I've owned it.

Just wanted to share with anybody that is looking for a fabulous stylish travel bag that can be used for every day too. I just adore it and am contemplating on buying it other colors.

You can buy it at shopbop.com, shoptwigs.com, saks.com and it comes in so many different colors. Also comes in regular leather, not just glazed. Oh and depending on the websites it could also be listed under the designer "Foley & Corinna" as she is part of that design team. It depends on what site you go to and what color and leather type but the bag ranges from $465 - $528. Not bad at all for a huge leather bag. My Louis Vuitton's cost double that and they aren't even all leather!

Feb 14, 2008

May I please, pretty please have your gorgeous Nina Ricci dress for my wedding? Please? I don't even mind that it's silver, I am in love with the pleating, the draping, the movement, the sweetheart neckline, the train. So. In. Love.

I was browsing through bluefly.com today and found some gorgeous A.B.S dresses that I thought would make fantastic bridesmaid or rehearsal dinner dresses for a destination wedding.

Seems like gray is the latest color for weddings. I've always loved gray and think this dress would be so pretty for bridesmaid dresses for a gray color scheme. It'a gorgeous silk chiffon so would be lightweight for a beachy/outdoor wedding.

And how about this for a black and white theme? It's such a gorgeous design. I'm a huge fan of bridesmaid dresses that aren't actually bridesmaid dresses. This one is a bit pricier but the wear it over factor is much higher than any "bridesmaid" dress that I've ever seen, for me at least :)

A.B.S Ivory Sateen Strapless Dress $345

And just for kicks because I love LBDs (Little Black dresses), here are my favorites!

Feb 5, 2008

I am no expert in destination weddings, but I thought that I'd try and help out the destination brides that are just starting out, and share what I've learned so far in my planning.

1.Communicating with your venue - Do not stress if the wedding coordinator/hotel does not get back to you in a day, or two, or three. This is really important because I know that we can start worrying when we don't hear back from them, especially if you have an "urgent" question. The thing that I had to realize is, my venue is in Jamaica, and when people talk about "Jamaican time" they are not exaggerating. What I end up doing is if I send one e-mail and don't hear back from them, I'll wait about 3-4 days and just send another mail or give them a call. I usually get a mail back within the next week and everything is always taken care of.

2.Group Rates - Once you know your venue and your guest list, start scouting airlines for group rates. I contacted a few airlines that flew to Jamaica and the best deal I found was for American Airlines. They offer a 5% discount for groups of 10 or more. The best part is, you don't have to be traveling on the same flight or even from the same airport. My guests just enter a special code that lets the airlines know that they are part of my wedding and they automatically give them the 5% discount. Many airlines require that to get the discount you must all be on the same flight. If that works out for you, totally take advantage of it, but make sure that you check out several airlines and what they offer.

3. Favors - If you are like me and don't like cheesy favors skip all the websites that say that they have "unique destination and beach wedding favors!" They are all really bad flip flop candles or some kind of weird starfish or seashell plastic thing. The thing that I always think about those things is if someone gave that to me as a favor, I would most likely take it home and then throw it away. J and I want to do something that all our guests will like and NOT end up throwing away. Some of the things that we are thinking about doing is customizing labels on Red Stripe beer (THE beer of Jamaica) that will be served during our reception, necklaces for the female guests that can be personalized to them, and customizing Sigg water bottles for the male guests. (If you haven't heard, Nalgene bottles are out, Sigg bottles are the latest AND they're ec0-friendly!)

We have some DIY ideas about how we will customize it, so if/when we get that project done, I will do a follow up post.

5. Photographer - So I, like a lot brides, think that photography is one of the most important vendors you will book for your venue. Do not think that you have to use a photographer in the area of your wedding. Do not be afraid of contacting photographers that you love and ask them if they will do a destination wedding. I'm in Seattle and my photographer is NY, but I fell in love with her work. She is worthy of her own post, so I will not go into too much detail here, but I was extremely happy with her price and package and think that it is one of the best decisions I've made so far in the planning.6. Guests - First find out how many your venue can hold. My venue is small so if I wanted a 100 guest wedding, I couldn't have done it there. Next, make your guest list and STICK TO IT. This is important to all weddings, but like for my hotel, they need to start holding rooms and such so they need the list early on. A lot of the caribbean hotels/resorts get booked out a lot earlier than typical stateside hotels because people like to plan their tropical vacations way early in advance to make sure that they get the room they want. You will also need to let your guests know that they will need to put a deposit down to hold the room so I believe in giving very advance notice (we told our guests about a year ahead although Save the Dates have yet to go out).

So, not a comprehensive list, but some of the top things that I've had to deal with. Hopefully somebody has found this helpful! I'll do another "tips" post later on, as I can think of several more things that I have encountered but never knew until I started this process.

If you have tips, post them in the comments below, I would love to hear from other brides!

I obviously am dress obsessed lately as all my posts have been about dresses. At the beginning of dress shopping I decided that I wanted a halter dress. I generally like myself in halter tops but when I put on wedding dresses with halter straps... whole different story.

This picture is almost laughable. The dress is obviously too big (it's probably two sizes too big and it hasn't been pinned/clamped in this picture) but it looks like the dress is eating me alive. I showed J this picture and he was like "Is that even you?" He didn't even recognize me. Not only does it look like I've gained 20 lbs but it just looks so yucky on me.

I tried on a few strapless gown that same day, but for some reason, my computer decided to eat those pictures, so for reference, here I am in a strapless dress.

So there you go, strapless it is. Everybody told me that I wouldn't know what I would like until I tried on wedding gowns and it is SO true. That's also why I don't suggest buying a gown online that you've never tried on. It *might* look just your style, but you just never know what it will look like you until you actually have it on.